The Perfect City, by Martin Coslett and Ross Clark, tells the story of William Penn and the founding of Philadelphia, exploring the blot on Penn’s copybook: how a man who championed what we would now call human rights, and whose frame of government for Pennsylvania was incorporated into the US constitution, came to accept slavery in his colony.
You can see The Perfect City at 52 St Martin’s Lane on Sunday 25 May at 2.30pm and 7.30pm

6 people. 6 years. 6 degrees apart.
What’s it about?
Ever wondered how your life could be affected by someone you’ve never even met? This new musical charts the individual stories of six New Yorkers as they intertwine and influence each other in profound and unexpected ways.

Book, music AND lyrics by Zack Zadek
Zack Zadek is the composer of 6 – a new musical and The Crazy Ones. His work has been heard at Joe’s Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, 54 Below and the Highline Ballroom. In January TwentySomething Productions produced Zack’s UK debut concert featuring some of London’s finest voices.

TwentySomething Productions was born out of a combined passion for contemporary, American musical theatre, creating a platform for new writers and voices to be heard. Having developed a following in London they are now seeking funding through Kickstarter to take the work to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Alba tells the exhilarating, heartwarming story of a young man whose reluctant return to rural Scotland sparks an emotional rollercoaster of self-discovery, triggering him to rekindle his love for his home country & its people.

Infused with traditional Scottish influences, the original score will be performed live by a cast of actor-musicians.

Finn said “I want to create something that combines my passion for musical theatre with my deep rooted love for Scottish traditional and folk music. With the independence referendum and commonwealth games looming, 2014 feels like an exciting year to be in Scotland”

Since moving to London in 2012, Finn Anderson’s Streets has been nominated for 2 Off West End Awards including ‘Best New Musical’ and a Broadway World Award for ‘Best New Musical in Fringe or Regional Theatres’. It has been described as “Breathtaking” by The Stage, “groundbreaking” by West End Frame and has been seen and supported by the likes of Idris Elba and Ed Sheeran. NMN featured a song from Streets in one of its Snappy Title concerts.

Finn grew up in the East Neuk of Fife and attended Madras College, St Andrews. He produced his first full length musical aged 14 at The Byre Theatre. Finn said that working on Alba is making him feel closer to home:

“London is a brilliant place for musical theatre but there isn’t the same folk tradition here. The way the Scottish people celebrate and maintain that tradition is something I really miss”

In order to get to the Fringe, Finn has to raise £4,000 and has launched a crowd funding campaign on ‘Kickstarter’.

“Taking a show to Edinburgh is extremely expensive and so we need all the help we can get! Crowd funding draws support from our audience enabling us to create work without commercial producers or big financial investment.”

By giving anything from £1, supporters will receive unique rewards for their contribution – plus Finn will be writing an original song for anyone who gives £100 or more.

Alba runs from 11-23 August at The Grand Theatre at Surgeons Hall, Nicolson Street. To back the project, visit kickstarter.com and search ‘Alba’ (direct link http://kck.st/1kqZMLY)

West End performers Jon Robyns, Niamh Perry, Jodie Jacobs and Sophia Ragavelas are lined up to star in a season of new musicals at the Landor Theatre in south London.

The From Page to Stage festival begins next week on February 10th and runs until March 9th, and includes readings of Merman’s Apprentice, Claus the Musical, and The Return of the Soldier.

The event also includes a screening of a new film musical Big Society The Musical which will play on February 13th.

Merman’s Apprentice will be performed on February 11th and 12th. It has a book and lyrics by Stephen Cole and music by David Evans.

This production will star Kim Criswell as Ethel Merman. David Burt and Elizabeth Seal also star in the show, which is directed by Stewart Nicholls.

Claus the Musical, penned by Simon Warne and Andy Collyer, will be performed on February 14th and 15th. It is directed by Kate Golledge and is based on L Frank Baum’s book, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Its cast includes Adam Anderson, Kara Lane and Sophie Caton.

Meanwhile, The Return of the Soldier has been written by Tim Sanders and Charles Miller, and will star Sophia Ragavelas, alongside Gary Tushaw and Jennifer Harraghy.

It is directed by Susan Raasay and will run on February 28th and March 1st.

Perry, Robyns and Jacobs will star in Showcase Nights, which will present three shows in development each evening. This will run from February 25th to 27th, and also includes West End “Top Hat” Director Matthew White, Ashleigh Gray, Anita Louise Combe, Tom Solomon and Jonathan Eio.

The showcases are directed by Simon Greiff.

Casting for the two lead shows have also been announced.

Before The Night Is Through

Tuesday 18th – Sunday 23rd February

A new British musical with Book and Lyrics by Olivia Thompson and Music by Chris Whitehead

Before The Night Is Through is directed by the Landor Theatre’s artistic director Robert McWhir, with musical direction by Christopher Whitehead, choreography by Cressida Carre and design by Magdalena Iwanska.

The Mistress Cycle

Tuesday 4th – Sunday 9th March 2014

A new American musical with Book and Lyrics by Beth Blatt and Music by Jenny Giering.

London College of Music, which is part of the University of West London, is presenting the World Premiere of Alex Loveless’ new musical, Bel-Ami.

The musical is a contemporary adaptation of the novel by Guy de Maupassant, with book, music and lyrics by Alex Loveless.
Orchestrations are by Andy Smith, the director is Chris Loveless and the musical director is George Carter. Choreography is by Anthony Whiteman and the set designer is Laura Clark.

Bringing the story into contemprary London, disillusioned former soldier George Dury joins the ranks of his friend’s newspaper, working his way up to become editor of the celebrity gossip column ‘Bel-Ami’. Manipulating his way into the highest echelons of British society by charming, seducing and blackmailing those who cross his path, he is rewarded with ever-increasing wealth and prestige. But his ultimate goal will always be power…

Bel-Ami is a fresh take on the classic Guy de Maupassant novel by award-winning composer / lyricist Alex Loveless. A contemporary social satire, featuring phone hacking journalists, corrupt MPs, rapacious oligarchs, and set against the backdrop of a US-led invasion of Iran, Bel-Ami has a Twenty First Century score including dance, rap, RnB and alternative rock.

Bel-Ami continues London College of Music’s tradition of developing new musicals and features final year students from its BA Musical Theatre course.

Alex Loveless studied musical composition at the London College of Music and is the composer / lyricist / librettist of The Remains of the Day (Union Theatre, 2010 – Evening Standard’s Critics’ Choice / Time Out’s Best Theatre This Month September 2010) andDracula (White Bear Theatre, 2008). His adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles will open at the New Wimbledon Studio in September 2014. Alex’s work has been showcased at the Park Theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the Duchess Theatre and the Royal Academy of Music. Alex is the recipient of a Vivian Ellis Prize for most promising newcomer, the Howard Goodall Award for composition, and is a professional writer associate of and reader for Mercury Musical Developments. Alex is published by Palgrave Macmillan and the London College of Music, where he now works as a lecturer in musical theatre. His work has been generously supported by Arts Council England and the Big Lottery Fund.

London College of Music: BA Musical Theatre

The LCM has a long and distinguished history (127 years) of turning out top-class professional performers. In recent years it has diversified to offer courses in musical theatre, musical direction, new writing, theatre design and technology and acting. BA Musical Theatre is a three year degree course focusing on acting through song situated within a conservatoire environment. New writing is placed at the heart of the curriculum with one large-scale new musical theatre work commissioned each year. Recent alumni have gone on to appear in the West End, UK and European tours.

New Musicals Network would like to warmly recommend the musical, Below Stairs (which will undoubtedly appeal to all aficionados of Downton Abbey!)

After 14 stage productions and one concert version, the musical is gradually winning fans and audiences, helped by a believable storyline and memorable melodies. Premiered in 2002 in Chesham, the show was written by Trevor Pilling with a score by Alan Lewis, who found composing helped take his mind off a series of three life-threatening cancers (colon, liver and lung). Because of this the writers decided to offer the show free of royalties and instead to ask simply that money be raised for Cancer Research UK: as a result, the last 12 productions have generated more than £7000 for the cause.

This June will see the 15th production. It is being put on in Old Windsor by the Riverside Players whose first production was exactly ten years ago. Since the, according to director Kay Smith, there has been a steady stream of requests from members of the cast and audience alike for a repeat production as it was enjoyed so much in 2004. In fact, this will be the second time that a society has chosen to repeat the show, as Utopian Operatic Society staged it in 2004 and again in 2007.

Below Stairs is a story of servants’ lives in a large London home in 1914 at the start of the First World War.

For further information on the show – including the fact that both the lib and the piano score can be downloaded free of charge from the website – go to www.belowstairsshow.com. Auditions for Riverside’s June production will be held at 8pm on Thursday 3 April 2014 at the Memorial Hall, Old Windsor.

You can also read a full synopsis HERE, and listen to a sample of the show’s finale HERE.

A new British musical, The A-Z of Mrs P, to be seen at the Southwark Playhouse in February 2014, is looking for people to help fund its cast recording and has turned to crowdfunding site IndieGoGo in its bid to make the recording a reality.

In 1936, Phyllis Pearsall makes the life-changing decision to leave her husband in Venice and follow a new path to find her way in London.

She then receives a telegram from her father, map publisher Alexander Gross….

And here begins the story of how an eccentric Bohemian artist put down her paints and picked up the drawing board to follow in her beloved and impossible father’s footsteps to map an entire city!

The A-Z of Mrs P is a brand new musical fable, written by author/playwright Diane Samuels and composer/singer Gwyneth Herbert, based on Phyllis Pearsall’s autobiographies. The show opens in the very same borough in which she was made a celebrated resident, at Southwark Playhouse on 21st February 2014.

A cast album means that the show will have a life beyond the initial production. This is an original British musical with a unique soundscape, written by an all-female creative team – all these things are too rare in British Musical Theatre! Help us capture this landmark show with a world class company.

In addition, the producers are hoping to get some money to go towards costumes and special lighting effects to enhance the production.

Many people will know about the Dorset village of Tyneham, which was commandeered by the Armed Forces during the second world war with the promise that it would one day be returned to the villagers who gave up their homes. It was never returned, and access to the village is still restricted, although it is possible to visit it at set times.

Jordan Clarke has written a musical, Tyneham – No Small Sacrifice, which will be performed in Weymouth (a coastal town close to Tyneham itself) at the end of October.